In Concert?

While we appreciate your coverage of our visit to the Los Angeles area, we wish to take issue with your portrayal of the circumstances surrounding the renewal of Maestro Masur’s contract (“Kurt Masur: Conducting With Unmeasured Passion,” by Greg Sandow, Jan. 9).

Your statement that the musicians don’t care for him is completely untrue. On the contrary, we have been among his most ardent defenders. It is also incorrect to portray him as a compromise candidate since at the time of his contract renewal, no effort had been made to begin the search for a successor.

We look forward to continuing the high level of performance that we have enjoyed throughout his tenure as music director.

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA COMMITTEE AND ARTISTIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE

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While it is certainly not unusual for individual musicians within any orchestra to disapprove of the music director, the members of the New York Philharmonic have, as a whole, made dissension a tradition.

Maestro Masur is the latest casualty in a distinguished line--including Artur Rodzinski, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Pierre Boulez and Zubin Mehta--who have been ravaged by this assemblage of prima donnas through the years. Only Leonard Bernstein emerged relatively unscathed.

Perhaps the New York Philharmonic should become a conductorless ensemble. After all, if the musicians are really that good, they should be able to maneuver through the Mahler 9th without a conductor.

GREG DOLLINGER

Bellflower